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Pak's nuke warheads may number 70-90: Report

New Delhi: Even as the danger of Pakistan's atomic arsenal falling into jihadi hands continues to make much of the world break into cold sweat, Islamabad may have quietly added to its nuclear weapons chest with the number of its warheads jumping from 60 to around 70-90.

The added nuclear muscle has been reported in the latest edition of the USBulletin of Atomic Scientists. The report, authored by scientists Hans Kristensen and Robert S Norris, links the increase to Pakistan's "pending introduction of a new ballistic missile and cruise missiles''.

The report states that this did not necessarily mean that Pakistan was sprinting ahead of India which too, it said, has increased its cache of nuclear warheads. Indian military and civilian authorities have said they are in a position to inflict a strong second strike.

Importantly, the US report is accompanied by pictures of a facility where a part of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is understood to have been stored. There are two bunkers with a perimeter fence to be seen in the image and the report notes that there have been at least three instances of sites in Pakistan related to its nuclear weapons being attacked.

Providing an insight into Pakistan's repidly developing nuclear and missile capabilities, the report said Islamabad was developing two nuclear-capable cruise missiles, ground-launched Babur and air launched Ra-ad, and that this suggested that its scientists had been successful in building smaller and lighter plutonium warheads. Kristensen has also put up on his blog a picture of an area, northwest of Karachi, which he says appears to be a potential nuclear weapon storage site.

Reacting to the report, former DRDO scientist K Santhanam said India had sufficient nuclear reserves to deal with Pakistan's augmented stockpile. "What they have is a well directed, army managed nuclear programme and what we have here is a democratic process. The government has a team of experts and they will decide what is to be done,'' said Santhanam who created a stir last week when he raised doubts over the yeild of Pokhran II and argued for India conducting more nuclear tests.

Security experts, however, said that this was a warning that India needs to get its act together. "Here is a sinking state, propped by US aid and Chinese technology, which still has an advanced nuclear programme. On the other hand India, seen to be a rising power, is still struggling to meet its requirements especially vis-a-vis China. Pakistan, in fact, has stolen a march over India as far as missile development is concerned,'' said strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney.

The report further said Pakistan was building two new plutonium production reactors and another chemical separation facility at Chasma, Khushab and Dera Ghazi Khan in southern Punjab.

"The nuclear-capable Shaheen-II medium-range ballistic missile appears to be approaching operational deployment after long preparation,'' it said.

A senior Indian government official said while India had the requisite nuclear deterrent to prevent any misadventure by any of its neighbours, any increase in Pakistan's stockpile would violate "mutual understanding'' that there was no need to have more warheads for either country.